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Steele calls on Reid to resign

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should resign from office after acknowledging that he had described President Obama as "light skinned" and possessing no "Negro dialect" in a conversation with reporters.

"There is this standard where Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own," said Steele in an interview with "Fox News Sunday. "But if it comes from anyone else, it is racism."

Steele, who is African American, compared Reid's comments about Obama to remarks made by then Senate Majority Leader Trent Lot in 2002 in which the Mississippi Republican, at a birthday party for South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, said that "all these problems" might not have occurred if Thurmond had been elected president in 1948.

"Senator Reid should do the right thing, follow the example that he himself set in 2002, and step down as Majority Leader," said John Cornyn, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, drew a similar comparison on "Fox News Sunday". "If [Lott] should resign, then Harry Reid should," Kyl said.

Unlike Lott, however, Reid immediately apologized for his remarks and received a strong statement of support from the president. Obama, in a statement released Saturday, said that he accepted Reid's apology and that the "book is closed" on the story. Reid also spent much of Saturday reaching to black leaders and fellow senators to try to minimize the damage from his remarks.

The Rev. Al Sharpton issued a statement in support of Reid on Saturday afternoon. "While there is no question that Senator Reid did not select the best word choice in this instance, these comments should not distract America from its continued focus on securing health care or creating jobs for its people," said Sharpton.

And, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) said that "like President Barack Obama, African Americans are likely to accept Majority Leader Reid's apology for an obvious reason. He has earned it."

Whether Reid stays on a leader -- and conventional wisdom suggests he will -- even Democrats acknowledge privately that he has done his re-election campaign, which was already in somewhat dire straits, no favors.

Steele, appearing on "Meet the Press", said that "whether [Reid] steps down today-- or I retire him in November, either way, he will not be the leader in 2011."

Reid spokesman Jim Manley told us this morning that the Senator is "absolutely running for reelection", adding: "Nevadans are facing challenging times and they need the majority leader fighting for them to create jobs and get the economy back on track."

The controversy over the book, which Republican leaders in Congress said they had not been made aware of prior to its publication, came just days after Steele had angered many GOP officials by saying he didn't believe the party could win back the House.

"Steele's status as a high-profile African-American at a time when Republicans are facing serious headwind because of their weakness among non-white voters was a big part of his appeal a year ago. And it is a part of the reason many GOP strategists lament that he is untouchable even though they think the party would be better off to make a change from someone they regard as an unfocused and gaffe-prone leader."

Steele also received a boost of support from Arizona Sen. John McCain during an interview on CNN's "State of the Union" show Sunday morning. "I have confidence in Michael Steele," said McCain.

"Anyway, if the GOP has the better deal then why aren't black people flooding its way? "

Oooh, I know, I know! Cause they're all dumb???

Posted by: DDAWD
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Some in the GOP or more likely true conservatives know that the path to foscal sanity is not "free lunch" or lifetime government dependence for D voters.

I believe that Sen. Reid does not think that the America people judge people "by the content of their character, not the color of their skin" in 2008? He was very wrong. Reid owes the American public an apology by his remarks about Obama's skin color, etc. Americans deserve better than a leader who thinks so little of them.

Remember what Reid said when he was discussing the new tourist center? He said, "My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway," said Reid in his remarks. "In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true." I bet Reid is smelling his own odor and blames it on the public visiting? Remember the joke when the guy blames his dog for the odor???

For allthe complainers who reject the idea of "Negro Dialect" or attack because speaking of such a dialect assumes that it is therefore an inferior way of speaking, you must not know the definition of dialect.

The whole of American English, (itself a dialect) is full of dialects. Brooklynese, Southie, State by State versions of American Southern Dialect, all exist, and each has easily identified characteristics. Cincinnati actually has two dialects, Cincinnati English, with its collection of German constructions, and Cincinnati German, (now nearly extinct) that grew up around within the Queen City's massive nineteenth century German Community.

The group of Negro dialects that make up a significant portion of American Literature are characterized by imports of constructions common in the African languages that the slaves brought to this country spoke. One singular example is the durative tense, (he be workin and workin) where the continuous nature of the verb is stressed. The ability to escape the limits of such dialect, (as in learning to drop the improper use of the perfect form of a verb, (seen) and use the correct past form of a verb (saw) (I seen him.. for I saw him...) being the most common dialectic construction I can remember from my elementary school days) is usually considered an accomplishment, as in Isaac Asimov being proud of his ability to move back and forth into Brooklynese, and Brooklyn Yiddish when called for, but his easy command of the formal structure of Standard American English in ordinary conversation and writing.

There ARE various dialects that can be properly called Negro dialects. Some are probably separate languages, like Gullah. Most fall into the class of Substandard English that also includes various Appalachian dialects, Southern Dialects, "Country" dialects and so on. Americans from all such dialects have distinguished themselves as speakers and writers of standard English, and been noted for it. The VERY best such writers and speakers can bring into their composition just the right touch and spice of their natal dialect when it suits their style.

In its most inspiring use, you almost hear the traces of Southern Black Baptist vocabulary and usage in the Speeches of Martin Luther King. The dialect is just barely there, and used powerfully to add the musical chords that support the intellectual content of his speaking. Done properly, as by Rev King, it enriches the English Language as a whole, just as all the many regional foods from all over the world enrich American cuisine.

But there is no denying that there IS a group of dialects that can be best described as Negro Dialects. They give Joel Chandler Harris, and George Gershwin material for their classic additions to American literature and music.

We in the GOP treat black Republicans like Michael Steele as equals, and--unlike in the Democrat Party--hold them to account for things they do or say. We treat them as mature and responsible men and women, and that's the big difference between the political parties re. all minorities. In the Democrat Party, you're still on the plantation being told what to do, what to say, and how to act.

==

First of all, you think in cartoonishly simplistic caricatures. Democrats all about dependence on government, Republicans all about the pioneer spirit. This is some pretty juvenile stuff, leaving aside its non-resemblance to reality.

Anyway, if the GOP has the better deal then why aren't black people flooding its way?

(shades eyes, rotates head)

I don't need to dig up the figures, we both know that support among blacks for the GOP is very low, probably single digits. There is this prevalent hallucination that the GOP uses racist appeals to get votes from poor whites. And that is why, exactly? Because they're universally hoodwinked, generationally addicted to the government teat?

If you're an adult and the simplemindedness of your beliefs isn't causing you at least some passing concern, then, uh, dayum. You're living on the set of Dr. Caligari.

Go feel sorry for yourself JRMZ, and just blame all your and all black peoples troubles on that evil white man, and never take responsibility for anything just like a bunch of little children. No wonder blacks are practically all Democrats. The Democrats treat them like little children, so they're never held to any account for anything they do. Just let Mommy Democrat and Daddy Democrat do everthing for you.

==

Dude, you have some dangerously serious issues going on.

If this is your way of adapting to the world around you then you're in fir a rough ride.

PS JRMZ
We in the GOP treat black Republicans like Michael Steele as equals, and--unlike in the Democrat Party--hold them to account for things they do or say. We treat them as mature and responsible men and women, and that's the big difference between the political parties re. all minorities. In the Democrat Party, you're still on the plantation being told what to do, what to say, and how to act.

FairlingtonBlade 11:43 PM wants me to show that Barack Obama hates white people.
Yo Fair (not likely)lingtonBlade, read what I wrote on 1/10/10 3:51 PM.
None of it can be disputed because it's on Obamas record and in his own book. Wright's vile racist anti--white sermons(?) are on videotape, sold by Trinity UFC Church and can be bought and viewed at anytime.

JRMZ 12:40 AM tries to excuse Wright's hatefull and racist sermons (?) with the old race-card excuse that blacks have been brought here in chains and kept down by all us evil white people.
Bulls***!!!
1-There isn't one white person in America today that had anything to do with any black being put in or kept in chains.
2-There isn't one black in America today that was ever in chains.
3-Most black slaves back 200 years or so ago were sold to mostly Muslim or Black Slave Traders by their own tribal leaders and chiefs, for trading goods, and only then transported to America and other places.
4-Slavery, especially with black slaves, is still going on in the Muslim countries in the Mideast, particularly in Mauritania, Sudan, and a few other Muslim and black countries, and there's hardly a peep by any black anywhere.
5-It was white people in the USA and in Europe who first outlawed slavery everywhere and made it a crime to have or deal in slavery, while blacks still tolerate it and still deal in it.
6-In the Colonial days many freed blacks who became rich, also had black slaves. One sailmaker in Philadelphia, whose name I have forgotten, owned and worked dozens of black slaves in his workshop, and I'm sure there were a lot more.
I could go on, but to he** with it. Go feel sorry for yourself JRMZ, and just blame all your and all black peoples troubles on that evil white man, and never take responsibility for anything just like a bunch of little children. No wonder blacks are practically all Democrats. The Democrats treat them like little children, so they're never held to any account for anything they do. Just let Mommy Democrat and Daddy Democrat do everthing for you.

Worth noting that American slavery survived in living memory until, astonishingly, 1979. The shadow endures in our culture and not only among blacks. And as a nation we are far from being free of racism, not that anyone needs to point that out in this blog.

JRM2: save your breath and temper. Appealing to the humanity of one of them is like teaching a dog to read. You'll never make any profess at all. Be content in knowing that the pinnacle of his life will be temping at a car wash.

"The two parties have serious policy differences but spinning the opposition as racist is counterproductive and cowardly."
---
So are you referring to 'Watermelons on the White House lawn?", or maybe it's comparing Michelle Obama to an ape?, or perhaps the Curious George Obama T-shirts?, or how about the placards depicting our President as a witch doctor with a bone through his nose?, or the signs at the teabagger rallies with the "N" word? (misspelled of course) or the whole birther crap?

This is Michael Steele's last-ditch effort to derail HCR.
And 37th, puleeaazze, not the Reverend Wright deal AGAIN. Remember, that was tried along time ago.

And let me tell you something, if you or your ancestors were forced into slavery, discriminated against in society, education and economically, tortured, lynched while people cheered on and jailed disproportionately, you MIGHT have a thing or two to say about that IF YOU HAD ANY SELF RESPECT AT ALL.
So don't be labeling Wright until you've walked a mile in his shoes. He was talking about the types of people who committed these crimes against humanity, not whites in general. You immature little $h!t.

For over 20 years Barack Obama has been a racist white and America--hater, and as the recent Prof. Gates case proved, he's still one. Nobody joins and stays in a racist white and America--hating cult like Trinity UFC Church for more than 20 years, unless they agree with the message and what was going on. Obama's racist and adoring fans, like the pathetic broadwayjoe et al here, can spin it all they want in order to cover up their fuehrer's sordit and racist history, but the bottom line is that had he (Obama) not agreed with Wright's sermon's, he'd have walked out of there during his first one, as Oprah Winfrey did!

"Democrats: Home Of The Party Willing To Fight, "A Revolution Over Keeping Slaves"! Democrats: Home Of The Paty That Brought You "The KKK"! Democrats: The Party That Can Say Anything Derogatory About Blacks,And Blacks Will Never Leave The Liberal Plantation! Democrats: The Party That,Sees No Evil,Hears No Evil,And "Speaks" No Evil! Democrats: Well,You Get The Picture! Posted by: sdavis4"

Yeap!@. And in 1948 a Young Hubert Humphry went before the Democratic national Convention, and called for change in the Party. The Dixiecrats walked out and, eventually, took over the republican party. Meanwhile, a young Texas democrat who once wrote antiblack language into a deed had a change of heart, and decided that if he could accomplish one thing it would be banish a very ugly word from the English Language. He eventually accomplished a great deal more and the Klan, or what was left of it went over to the republican party, who welcomed the Clan and the Dixiecrats with great enthusiasm. It STILL welcomes those octogenarians who are left of the Klan and the Dixiecrats, and still uses the Nixon era codewords they first used to court those same Dixiecrats and Klansmen.

I doubt CC will have any epiphanies about race. That cheesy whine he's done four times now says it all .. "I don't see why people who hate me and this blog would want to keep coming back." Throwing out dumb straw men like that and ignoring questions and comments about the board's open tolerance of bigots but absolute intolerance of calling them out, well, what more need be said. Jake's already back to the Obama-isn't-president crap, zouk to "ped," 37th gushing like an open sewer, nothing is going to change.

An immedate warning for a gentlman's single use of "puerile" but not a peep about four months of "pederast."

I giuess raising questions like this constitutes "hating the blog." (but filling it up with repeats of the same stupid post expresses love (and hit counts)).

Anyway, I'm not giving any excuses. Even Jake gets the polite treatment. Think it'll make any difference? Of course not.

All things as they are now, November 2010 is going to be very very ugly for the Democrat party. Look for the greatest midterm congressional losses by any one party in over 50 years.

==

Researcher from the Oxford Center for Computational Physics are converging on Washington DC to study the incredible phenomenon of information leakage from an alternate universe apparently existing alongside our own

Blog entries appearing on the Washington Post weblog "The Fix" are apparently missives from a bizarre universe where politics in America has taken an alternate path, despite being populated with the same figures as our own, and sharing the same recent electoral and polling results.

Previous instances of quantum interference were limitied to subatomic scales, such as the iconic Double Slit experiement first performed by Thomas Young in 1803.

Attempts to communicate information about our own reality to this alternate universe have all proven unsuccessful.

@noa: Before signing off, just wanted to note your 8:41pm post was excellent analysis. Hope "our gracious host" reads it to better understand something about the community he's supposed to be writing about. This blog's agenda is so dramatically out of line with the multicultural DC area the Post serves that it's not even funny.
Oh well.

Mr. Steele has said that Sen. Reid is out of touch with African American's. I would say, considering the vote, Mr. Steele and the Republican party were/are out of touch with African American's.

This back and forth, tit for tat BS we American voters/citizens must endure from our elected officials is becoming very much a bore. We try to teach our children better than this.

Harry Reid, begin to use your head for something other than a place to put your face. Get professional.

With all the critical issues we face as a society and nation, Mr. Steele you should spend your time on subjects of substance. Hey dude, the republican party accepts you, even though your black, you don't have to try so hard.

Problem is, Steele is the very definition of a buffoon. Also, many AAs are embarrassed by his bloviating. As for Reid, in his own way, he is a buffoon, too, but from the president on down, no Democrat is spoiling for him to step down as leader, so he won't. For headcount alone, the Dems need him to win reelection. And Barack Obama will help him.

Obama is careful not to show notable favoritism to black America, clearly trying to dodge giving the racists against his administration anyway something even slightly substantial to work with. Not that is saves him any grief but at least it's about proxies like the birth certificate stuff.

So black Americans haven't gotten much out of his tenure other than the abstract pride of seeing the end of a pretty big hunk of inequality. The economic conditions (that Obama inherited from Bush and is approaching not much differently than Bush would) have hit blacks hardest.

And the fact of a president with dark skin has done for America's racist heart of darkness what the end of Soviet control did for antisemitism in Ukraine .. it wasn't dead, it wasn't even buried, it was just hidden, and with McCain and Palin touring the country with the message that racism is cool again, black Americans have had a worse time with bigotry than any in memory.

Reid's comments are nothing, a fleck of foam in a tropical storm of racist hate coming entirely from the right.

Why under Heaven would any Democrat listen to Michael Steele. When the Democratic leadership and/or the electorate want him to resign, it might be time to consider it. Otherwise, it's up to the President to be offended or not.

A lot of people of a certain age just cannot help themselves when it comes to the issue of race, but, if I were Sen Reid, I wouldn't worry because Pres Obama is a kind and thoughtful man and, the last Dem Senator who made a faux pas while discussing the race of Pres Obama was Joe Biden.

America still waits for promises of speeches, given during the most expensive Presidential campaign in history, to materialize into actions that will be positive for a Nation facing unprecedented debt, deficits and unemployment.

"I am amazed at the resurgence of the people (screen names) from a year or more ago. ... I still can't believe a poster was "banned" for accusing political opponents of racism. Banned. For saying people were racist.

Steele should be careful of what he wishes for, he may just get it. I can think of 5-6 senators that would do a better job and getting a Claire McCaskill would make Lott and Gingrich look like aisle crossing compromisers.

How bizarre. Democratic politicians can rhetorically crap all over African Americans and their leaders (Al Sharpton and Holmes-Norton say it's ok).

Posted by: suesue2 | January 10, 2010 7:14 PM

It was more of an insult to whites than it was blacks. Do you think blacks would care if Obama was a deeper shade of black? Of course not. He expressed the opinion that there was a significant number of non-blacks that are affected by color. SHOCK.

I am amazed at the resurgence of the people (screen names) from a year or more ago. This racism thing could turn out to be a big deal. I still can't believe a poster was "banned" for accusing political opponents of racism. Banned. For saying people were racist.

Hey, Chris Cillizza, look at the last couple days. Do you understand how important racism is? It is so important it is generic, like evil. Everybody says its bad, no on owns it. Everybody is accusing everybody of racism, even Michael Steele.

I am sick of racism charges. There is no significant racism left in this country. It is time for both parties and their supporters to give it up. No more fake outrage, no more stirring up trouble. The two parties have serious policy differences but spinning the opposition as racist is counterproductive and cowardly.

I know BHO/Reid's enemies in the media have told us this is a major story. Maybe tomorrow they will share with us why it is.

Reid basically said BHO is a light skinned black guy who doesn't speak ebonics. This is an objectively accurate statement and BHO, Sharpton, et al, said there was no offense. Reid's mistake was in apologizing (for no reason) and giving folks who actually are r_cists a free shot at him.

None of the media types fronting this fake controversy could give a hoot about blacks--notice they had nothing to say about Palin allegedly calling BHO "S_mbo."

Does the GOP really think they get "extra" points for all these made up "Crisis". I mean they must have set a record Chicken Littles this past year. Don’t they get we have “real” problems that won’t solved with lies and “NO”

Tee hee.....Reid stated the truth, which is if Obama was an inarticulate, dark skinned Black man, AMERICA would not have voted for him. It is not a slight against Obama, it is an indictment against those who are closet racists. Who is America? Well, that would include all of the idiots who attend tea parties and believe that no one can be born in Hawaii but Hawaiians. lol. Oh and those who believe that the only people who want something good for them are white males......and only some white females. Oh, oh, oh, and those who think that the health care reform was created to put people to death. Oh yes, America. But that is almost none of you. Oh no. Many of you represent the real America. And it is you that Reid was talking about.

Now there is Michael Steele. Another not so dark black man who speaks 'good' english. The GOP used him to beef up their Black quota and now he is using everyone, including Reid, to stir up controversy to try to stay in that position.

Whether you believe it or not, Blacks can be smart, intelligent and dark! Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Clyburn along with many white politicians who rallied, campaigned and encouraged Obama to run, are not and never have been DELUSIONAL. Steele and the GOP are not delusional either. If no one else knew, Blacks knew if Obama was darker, Hillary would have been the Democratic nomineee. Without no doubt. So why are you expecting Blacks to denounce a man when what he said was true?

THIS IS PURE POLITICS PEOPLE! GAME PLAYING AT ITS BEST! And many of you fall for it everytime. (shaking head)

And one last thing. There is Kings English, which no one speaks in America, including whites. Good English, which is what is taught in school. Bad English, which is what whites, blacks and anyone else speaks who did not learn good english. And lastly slang.....which every person speaks in the CULTURE they were raised in. i.e. made up words and colloquialisms a group identifies itself with. Like.....Dude!

What a total pathetic joke. Steele needs to speak to HIS party and tell THEM how to deal THEIR multiple problems. As he is about to get fired by the Republicans anyway, he just trying to change the subject away from his two-faced self.

Lets face the FACTS: Republicans have been and are utter complete lunatics.

To see what Lunatics Republicans are consider some of their positions & beliefs

1- Republicans were and are for the Iraq War that has wasted, to date, $2Trilion dollar of our money set aside how many innocent people it has killed.

2- Republicans are for our Gargantuan Military budget, so Gargantuan that it is larger than Military budget of all other countries on Earth combined
WHILE US economy is not even 15% of world economy anymore. With most of this money spent outside of US and not inside US as is the case with the Military of China, France, etc.

But Republicans are:

1- Against European or Canadian style Universal health care for American people, calling it "Socialism", and for our current bankrupting health care system which is taking 18% of the GDP while leaving 50Mill Americans without health care and even those who have health insurance find out that when they have a health care need they are hit with exorbitant co-pays & deductibles resulting in 2Mill Americans going bankrupt each year due to health care costs while in European countries that ALL have Universal health care ZERO people are going bankrupt each year due to health care costs AND health care is taking 8% of GDP and Europeans have a much higher life expectancy than Americans.

U can read the full text of this article:
anoox.com/blog/Real_News.34034

You know, it's amazing to me. As I read the comment of Reid supporters, I am utterly amazed at the language they use to describe Michael Steele (token RNC, double-filled Oreo cookie, Uncle Remus, etc.)and even the president himself (Barack the Magic Negro) shows how far we have really have to go in race relations.

To the Democrats who have used this language, this just proves to me why as a black man, I left the Democratic party six years ago and became a registered Republican.

You try to portray yourselves as an "inclusive party," but the language toward Steele shows otherwise. Having, "black friends" doesn't mean you are tolerant of all races. I mean, Julia Roberts likes black people too, but that doesn't mean she would marry someone black. (to understand the quote, I refer you to Ann Coulter's column, "Julia: I like black people too.")

Folks, get real ... look at the statement on its naked, face value. a "Negro dialect" is a stupid statement to make, and is virtually a racial timebomb. If nothing, else, Reid and every politician should know better than to go that route.

anarcho-liberal-tarian wrote: ...we enjoy 95% support from the black vote and similar margins with other minorities (im native american).
-----------------------------------------
Yes, we all know how blue cities are a paragon of success for minorities. We can see it every other day on a cop show on TV.

Come on everyone. What is wrong with us!? Senator Reid is a stupid man, an ignoprant man, and a racist. As a lifelong democrat from a bi-racial family I am incensed that the Democrating aprty and people like the Rev Al Sharpton are wiling to excuse this behavior. Just because he is a Democrat, Reid deserves no forgiveness. In fact for this very reason he should imediately step down.

The GOP really stretches to be negative. As I see it, what Reid said is none of their business. Their negativity about everything gets us nowhere. I'd rather see the Republicans come up with some kind of positive plans to help the people the Bush-GOP's years caused to be unemployed and to lose health care, homes and retirement savings.

They dug a deep hole, and we will be a long time clawing out of it.

The GOP should do something positive for the good of the nation, especially something to help the hurting middle class and poor, not just the rich corporations and their bonus-rich CEOs.

Republicans are so desperate and delusional that it's laughable. Reid's comments were awkwardly phrased but not racist. In fact, he didn't say anything that astute African-American columnists, professors and culture critics didn't say. Mr. Obama is President and THE TRUTH IS, 37thandO, that you and other deluded right wingers can't handle the truth. Mr. President, Senator Reid, carry on! We want change.

lohmeyer11 wrote: Obama is a brillant black man...
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In your wonderworld, may be. This is the kind of "intellectual subservience" which is common in academia where undergrads go ga-ga when they watch some prof give a polished coherent lecture. Till of course you grow up and re-read who you heard to see how sophistry can sell BS which is a dish best serve with a pinch of demagoguery. In all fairness, no matter how smart he may be, he'll be judged by his results, when we seem them. So far he's yet another lefty Chicago Democrat who has broken every major campaign promise. Brilliant indeed.

Steele should get back to the primary (and sole) focus of the Rabid Republican Party - doing everything they can to make certain that Obama fails and the USA goes right down the toilet. These terminally greedy, egotistical, arrogant, traitorous, deceitful little weasels should just drink a big old glass of shut-the-hell-up if they're not going to do a damned thing to help the country. Reward the rich, punish the poor - vote Republican!

Obama is a brillant black man, Steele is, well seems to be anyway, a backwards and unintelligent black man. Stuff like this happens no matter what color you are. Everyone can argue that Steele certainly lacks the joie de vivre of Obama. Republicans wanted or figured they needed a black leader to go head to head with a black President, you just got one that doesn't meet muster, my dear Republicans. Sorry folks.

mark_in_austin: I have essentially the same view of Lott as you do. Conservative, partisan, rational, not a hater.

The CTO of a company I worked at as their dotcoms crashed had been to some tech conference where Lott and Gingrich were present; reported that his impression of Lott was of a man who genuinely cared about the people of Mississippi, rich and poor, white and black. To excuse him of any personal racism is probably a stretch, given his origins, but if we accept Byrd's repudiation, and we must, we accept Lott's many years of hard work on behalf of his state for what it was. Certainly head and shoulders above the rotten racists filthing up the GOP now.

The same CTO told me that when the topic of poverty came up, Gingrich giggled. He thought the misery and privation of being poor and hungry was something to laugh about. He was ahead of his time.

MS, in suggesting that Reid resign because Reid insulted Obama, (maybe, it seems a BIT of a stretch) seems to suggest that, sine the Republicans won't pay any attention to him, maybe he can get the Dems to listen.

Of course, since his election to his position was from the start an object lesson in being superflouos window dressing anyway, what does he expect?

And his claim, "I will retire him" Ranks right up there with Ochocinco saying he would change his name back...

If ANYone was actually paying real attention to MS, it might mean something.

Not one word of what is attributed to Reid is untrue...as a black man of sixty years I have lived it. There is no way it can be denied that lighter skinned blacks are more accepted by whites and blacks. Again, Reid did not say anything which was untrue, particularly in the context of addressing the subject matter. We should get on with matters far more important than this and Steel knows damn well Reid spoke the truth, but he wants to demagogue the issue.

Hey, Republicans are fair & balanced, they're calling on Steele to resign too. (har har that's a JOKE for the humor impared) The situation is sort of funny with everyone running around telling people they might be opposed to that they ought to quit.

It's only the democratic fringe that's "liberal", just as it's only the republican fringe that's "fascist". This labeling thing GOP people like so much, along with whatever other insults people can cook up isn't good for the country, and it won't win anyone votes.

None of us solve problems with name calling and rage.

I can't call the GOP a party of ideas anymore, and I'm more bitter about that some days than I am happy Democrats hold a majority. Why? cause that doesn't help solve any problems. Saying no and getting mad doesn't provide any alternatives, much less ones that will work on hard problems.

Hey ddnfa: I call you guys goobers and gomers because you come here as a mob. You don't show up as individual posters with individual contributions, you come as a scripted mob reciting spoon-fed babble. Not only do you all post the exact same positions, you do so with the exact same words and phrases, even repeating your own posts verbatim every few minutes.

You post as a mob, so I have a mob name for you.

And before you do that dumbazz "you do it too!" whine, go read my posts about Lott in the previous thread. If you can find it.

summicron1 wrote: um....can anyone say the original statement was wrong?
------------------------------
What's wrong is that dialogue which appeals to facts but hurts racial senstivites is racism (by liberal standards, not mine). Ask Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and multiple courts which have construed this to be the case. E.g. if you even point out that stasticially african americans are predisposed to crime than high scores in mathematics, you can lose you license, job, career and be disgraced. Even suggesting that in the context of women had a Harvard President lose his job (and yes, he was a liberal).

I finally found it - it was on the previous thread, and in honor of the Simpson's 100th birthday I said "doh". Actually it was in honor of Strom's 100th birthday that Lott overpraised the old man. I tend to agree with you.

My point here was that in spite of what some folks are saying here it was not Ds who forced or even pushed Lott to do anything. He was a Leader the opposition found approachable - in that respect an old school Senator. He certainly was conservative and partisan, but he was not irrational and hateful, by any means. I was serious in asking some of the older Rs here [if there are any] whether they recall R pressure on Lott. Wiki says it was the blogs that "did him in" and I suppose it was D voting bloggers, but I was not aware of blogs at all in 2002 and was completely surprised when Lott stepped down. There was not D pressure from his colleagues in the Senate. They were on the whole, supportive - see the Daschle comment I posted at 6P.

Funniest hypocrisy here: Reid is getting excoriated for speaking plain truth in an anachronistic fashion, at worst showing a poltical tin ear. Obama is light-skinned and does speak without any Ebonic grammar. It's not the smartest move for a public figure to say so, but it certainly isn't false, nor racist.

And his loudest critic is Michael Steele, in deep doo-doo for saying aloud a truth that Republicans want silenced: they don't have a chance of taking back either house in November. Steele is supposed to stick to some perky and chirpy happy optimistic talk in direct defiance and denial of objective reality. No political analyst not in the employ of FOX news is saying the GOP has a chance.

Takes a helicopter to stay above the pile of BS as it reaches for the sky.

Seriously, the last "black" man to be talked about for president was Colin Powell. Now Barack. Not Jesse Jackson, not the incredibly reverend al sharpton, but a calm, light-skinned well spoken dude in both cases.

I see nobody arguing that a dark black person speaking with a black patois would have been elected. Wonder why that is....

LBJ and his great society brought about the downfall of the Black American family and the poor white family with the welfare system that rewarded women to NOT GET MARRIED and to have many children so they could receive a stipend for it. This created a great loss in both for there was not a father to teach boys to be real men. If you go to any prison today you will find them filled with poor blacks, whites and hispanics. NOT RICH, poor, what is the difference, (I know the libtards will say the rich daddy's get their children off, which falls right into my trap, they have daddys to get them off! but most do not get into trouble.) YOU NEED TO FACE IT, the unintended consequences of libtard policies is the destruction of millions of lives. They say they care, but that is a myth. Libtards are the problem with this country. They have divided this country with hatred and lies. They are double tongued, hypocritical soul stealers. They are the most unhappy people I know. They think others owe them, and they are stingy. Al Gore proved that when it was revealed he gave a pitly $353 dollars to charity in 1997, while in the same year the libtards current person of hate Dick Cheney gave 75% of his income to charity 6.9 million. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1819260/posts
Yeah libtards are generous, When it is other peoples money.
The real issue here is how can the libtards keep so many blacks and poor whites voting for them for 40 years with all the broken promises? Could it be greed with the carrot of a pittance that comes back to them, the pittance that keeps them on the plantation (inner city slums) and the share croppers hut (trailer parks on the edge of small towns)?
I will give it to the libtards for keeping the poor voting for them.

greenm1 wrote: Notice a couple of things. One, Reid didn't say he apologized "if" his remarks offended anyone. He said he apologized to "any and all" he offended. No conditional there. That's a man standing up and saying the right thing.
------------------------------------------Are you kidding us? The whole statement was a template response. Plus he apologized after he got caught, not after he realized he made a mistake which could've been days after he made that statement.

Notice a couple of things. One, Reid didn't say he apologized "if" his remarks offended anyone. He said he apologized to "any and all" he offended. No conditional there. That's a man standing up and saying the right thing.

Two, Trent Lott had a voting record that would have fit in well with any white sheet of the Reconstruction era. Harry Reid has consistently voted for and supported civil rights.

Third, Michael Steele appears to be the only prominent African American offended by the remark, or offended enough to harp about it. This brings up two points:

1. Considering that he long ago sold whatever soul he may have had to be a big cheese in a racist political party, where is his credibility in all this?

2. Maybe some Republicans realize that they are getting Democrats madder, and mad Democrats are likelier to get off their butts and vote for Harry Reid--as they should.

Trent Lott's remarks were innocuous yet the Dems raised such a fuss, he had to resign. If Harry Reid has any honor (and he doesn't) he would resign. If the Dems had any honor (and they don't) they would demand his resignation. The Dems and the left are just hypocrites, pure and simple.

"goobers" and "gomers" and well-spoken African-Americans and things that go bump in the night...
That bump you're hearing is the liberals (note: no name-calling here - unless the term "liberal" offends you...I'd certainly understand that) hitting the polling basement floor. And your ridicule of those folks who place a higher value on life - however misguided - says alot about you. Have no fear of having your "djck" shot off. You'd have to grow one first.
Happy New Year, buttmunch!

If the GOP required every member to resign for racist remarks & emails their members have generated regarding President Obama there would be no GOP members left to laugh at. And this includes their token Steele.

I swear it's as if their collective mission in life is to continue to make complete fools of themselves--this request included. The GOP is a party of "boo-boo the fools".

They preach a ton of stupid crap but add exactly ZERO to this nation in the way of progress for the American people. They are the leaders of "divide and delay". Useless.

It is hard to think of them as fellow Americans. Hell, I have a hard time thinking of them as fellow human beings. The entire pathetic lot of them. Useless.

Noacoler wrote: Get real nowecant, Reid's remarks were nothing worse than anachronism. The same thing wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in 1965. You guys have made all the hay you can from this, clutching at straws because your own party of allegiance has no substantive way back to power. None.
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That presents not a single argument against the double standard in question. Party allegiance has nothing to do with it. This is the kind of BS that every American is getting sick of.

I love all of this Repub backwash, unset because President Obama "plesently" accepted Herry Reid's apology for the comment on the "fact" that he IS a "light-skinned" and "well spoken" black man, but I don't remember where any of them were this upset when one of their "own" called President Obama a "lier" from the floor of the Senate during the President's speeches on the Health Care Reform Bill. They were all perfectly fine with that, so to make these references of "hypocrisy" from the Dems is so completely laughable to me that their memories can be THAT short because of all the things they are accusing the Dems of right now they were very comfortable doing for 8 years and slapping each other on the backs for doing it. Best of all I love how they relished being able to get away with complete "lawlessness" and lack of respect for our constitution again praising and slapping each other on the back for taking advantage of the American People to line their pockets with our tax dollars while cutting their taxes with loop holes and tax breaks. I laugh out loud every time I hear Repubs call the Dems "hypocrits" because they do with such a strait face that makes THEM look even more "HYPOCRITCAL"!

Why do so many of the gomers repost their own stuff over and over? You never see us doing that. Is writing a paragraph some sort of profoundly difficult thing for you guys? Or are you just pining for attention?

The last man on earth we should listen to on this issue is porch token Michael Steele. Your party is about to be over Michael and they will throw you under the bus. Rushnicans have never been anything but racists who have done zero for you or your kind. They might let you over their house to clean it or mow the lawn. Mr. Steele is filled with such self hatred that he actually believes he is white and of course married the fat white girl to help him think he is white. The comments were wrong the man apologized to the man he made the comments about and he forgave him enough said on this one. Michael good luck on your book tour that you forgot to tell your pals about. Hope you make some dough cause your RNC salary is toast soon.

An afterpost to my 6PM comment: The controversy Lott stirred with his remarks died in the press in three days, according to wiki. It was blogs like this - the internet - that harassed Lott into resigning as Leader two weeks later.

So y'all might just run ol' Sen. Reid off; the power of the internet and the blogs is so much greater now than it was eight years ago.

Turnabout is fair-play. If Trent Lott had to give up his leadership position for making racist comments, so should Harry Reid. I don't like Reid anyway; I think he's a weasel with even less backbone than most in the Senate.

Get real nowecant, Reid's remarks were nothing worse than anachronism. The same thing wouldn't have raised an eyebrow in 1965. You guys have made all the hay you can from this, clutching at straws because your own party of allegiance has no substantive way back to power. None.

So you pray for a terrorist attack or some other calamity to make Obama look bad, since there is nothing out there at all to make te GOP look good.

I read through the liberals comments here. They are SOOO funny. They are actually trying to justify the racism that the Democrat party has stood for for almost 2 centuries. It was the Democrat Party that ruled the south. It was the democrat party that almost lost blacks the equal rights legislation of the 60's. Bill Clinton's mentor was one of those who voted against it. It is the democrats through the "Great Society" push that destroyed the black family and poor white families.
It is the democrat party that still has a past grand wizard in their ranks. It is the democrat party that has a vice president who said of Obama, "First CLEAN, articulate African American" http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/biden-obama-first-clean-black-candidate/6ay88tm
It is the democrat party that supports the abortion of MILLIONS of black babies per year. It is the democrat party that is full of rich white people.
These are the facts. Senator Reid as this article illustrates got caught articulating what the democrats really believe "behind closed doors."
As the Bible says, "Be sure, your sin WILL find you out!"

Noacoler wrote: I had a very enjoyable few hours reading posts on stormfront. The goobs were literally hyperventilating in anxiety, talking about organizing a raid on the hospital and rescuing her .. they apparently believed she'd be on her own feet and anxious to escape.
------------------------------------------
Of course, this story is about the leader of the senate, and a public story of double standard of his treament (far from innuendoes from blogosphere). This is the era of the philosopher-in-chief who took 4-6 seconds in branding a white cop as 'stupid' while his political puppet gets a pass cuz he's a big shot.

Reading all these comments is laughable. Democrats are tripping all over themselves saying Lott's words were worse than Reid's so cries of racism against Lott are justified but apparently lesser racist utterances of Reid are okay because they aren't as bad and a democrat said them and they are true anyway. You see we mustn't worry about racist comments from democrats because they defend them by saying someone from the other side is worse. All these years my mother lied to me when she drilled into me "two wrongs don't make a right". First of all they complain and cry racism anytime anyone is critical of Obama, and when they get caught out in their own utterances, then it's the same old same old - well the republicans did it and there's was worse than ours, so ours is okay.
Democrats - the party of the same morals they decried in the republicans for the past years and years.
And what is true about them anyway? The part of being light skinned and not talking with a negro dialect or the fact that Americans might be ready to accept him only because he had light skin and spoke well and if he was darker he might not have a chance for being elected? Is that how Reid thinks about Americans, both white and black and all in between?
Is Reid apologizing for his comments or because he has to to save his rear end because they are now being made public? And what "better words" would he have used if these were a "poor choice"? Why did he support a man who said himself that he would not run for President because he wasn't qualified for the job? Would he have pushed Obama over Clinton if his skin had been darker and he did speak with a negro dialect? I think I know the answer already.

Shrink2, a little history. When Sen. Lott made his offensive remarks at the Thurmond celebration, Sen. Gore said he should apologize or be censured [not resign]. He apologized to all he offended. Tom Daschle said:

"There are a lot of times when he and I go to the mike and would like to say things we meant to say differently, and I'm sure this is one of those cases for him as well."[Daschle, 12-09-02]

Impolitic and hateful statements may get someone censured under legislative rules but they do not typically result in "resignations" and for that to be the standard is nonsense; the founding fathers said worse.

I do not remember if Lott was pushed by his R colleagues or whether he went on a fence mending tour on his own - he was a good friend of Head Start in MS and did work especially hard for funding in that biennium.

If the Ds want to push Reid aside it is OK with me. The Rs would do better to tear a page from Daschle's playbook.

They are actually trying to justify the racism that the Democrat party has stood for for almost 2 centuries. It was the Democrat Party that ruled the south. It was the democrat party that almost lost blacks the equal rights legislation of the 60's.

Typical republican misinformation. Tell half the truth, then spin. Yes the southern democrats were the racist party. Then along came the 50's and 60's. When Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting rights act in 64 he asid "We just lost the south for a generation, but he signed it anyway. Then, when the racists staerted leaving the party in droves, Nixon and his southern strategy welcomed the racists with open arms. Until that time the Republican party had many black voters. The black voters are not stupid. They know who their friends are. The dems are far from perfect on race, but stop the phony cries of racism. We know where most of the racists are.

They are actually trying to justify the racism that the Democrat party has stood for for almost 2 centuries. It was the Democrat Party that ruled the south. It was the democrat party that almost lost blacks the equal rights legislation of the 60's.

Typical republican misinformation. Tell half the truth, then spin. Yes the southern democrats were the racist party. Then along came the 50's and 60's. When Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting rights act in 64 he asid "We just lost the south for a generation, but he signed it anyway. Then, when the racists staerted leaving the party in droves, Nixon and his southern strategy welcomed the racists with open arms. Until that time the Republican party had many black voters. The black voters are not stupid. They know who their friends are. The dems are far from perfect on race, but stop the phony cries of racism. We know where most of the racists are.

The phony outrage of the goobers posting in these two threads reminds me of the Terry Shiavo hysteria, which happily led to the resignation of Bill "Hymie the Robot" Frist.

I had a very enjoyable few hours reading posts on stormfront. The goobs were literally hyperventilating in anxiety, talking about organizing a raid on the hospital and rescuing her .. they apparently believed she'd be on her own feet and anxious to escape.

I'm not making this up.

Of course, the invasion never got too close to an actual organization plan, because the gomers kept getting sidetracked into lovingly detailed recitations of their personal armories,with fully spelled out model numbers for each gun and each accessory. I laughed so hard my ribs ached. Yeah, the new conservative movement. Hhahahahah. Right. Shoot their own d|cks off first.

I'd have the same reaction to all the "double standard" posts here if they weren't so repetitive and the people posting them so damned stupid. Racist Democrats? Motes and beams.

This is so transparently fabricated by the RNC. Everyone in politics was talking about race in 2008. We were on the brink of electing the first black president.

The only difference between Ried and the republican strategists is that Reid was *hopeful* Obama would be elected because he has a broad mainstream appeal and the RNC was *terrified* Obama would be elected because he has broad mainstream appeal.

This is all about money and power. The republicans want to undermine the leader of the senate, and they'll use any emotional muckraking garbage they can to do it.

They had power for 8 years and ran the country into the ground. They should shut up and give the new leadership and new ideas a chance to work.

It seems to me this whole thing is a tempest in a teapot. Reid's comments were not appropriate for a political leader of any persuasion, neither were Steele's. Who cares?
Before we were liberals or conservatives, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, we were Americans.
Sideshows like this distract us from the very real problems we face as a nation, and from the fact that too many members of our government, both liberals and conservatives are feeding at the corporate trough instead of serving those who elected them.
If you don't like the situation as it stands don't vote for any of the wealthy wannabe aristocrats who are already buddy-buddy with the corporate wealth that runs our nation and get some men and women with integrity, and who understand the plight of the average American into office.
Yes, I know the words "politics" and "integrity" don't go together, but they should.

mikelemm wrote: Oh yes, the Democrat party is the racist party. Just on quick question: WHo is the highest ranking statewide black officeholder in the Republican Party?
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Repubs put a secretary of state and a supreme court justice who are both not "light skinned", i.e, authentically black. And by your very own logic, Democrats were a racist party until Obama got elected cuz they never nominated a black presidential candidate before. Think your case through.

"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man., and furthermore, He's a "light-skinned" African-American "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.". There you have it, the Vice President and the leader of the Senate.: Dumb and Dumber!

NOW ADD THE FORMER PRESIDENT, BILL CLINTON, AND THAT ARTICULATE,CLEAN LIGHT SKINNED NEGRO CAN FETCH A CUP OF COFFEE! WHAT A TOLERANT PARTY THOSE DEMOC RATS ARE!

Oh yes, the Democrat party is the racist party.
Just on quick question: WHo is the highest ranking statewide black officeholder in the Republican Party?
A: The Texas RR commissioner. They don't even have any black congressmen. But they do have one Vietnamese guy. Progress.

Reid's comment had more to do with an assessment of the inherent prejudices of the voting populace rather than any racially insensitive remark toward Obama.

The unfortunate reality is that appearance does matter when it comes to popular appeal of elected officials. The American public was drawn to Obama's intellect, charisma, and message of hope and change, but they also felt that they could identify with his overall persona.

If Sarah Palin were unattractive or overweight, she would not be nearly as popular in right wing circles, especially since she is so lacking in the other attributes that make someone electable.

Chicagoburned wrote: Wait a minute. I support Obama and am glad he's the president but, truth be told, he is "light skinned" and does not speak with a "Negro dialect." Reid just said what's so.
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That's not the point. Even citing facts and statistics which hurt racial sensitivities is racism. Just think about pointing to african americans that they're statistically less prone to be mathematical geniuses than to commit crime, and Rev Sharpton will chew you out on national TV. Breaching sensitivities in such ways, especially by people holding office, is racism. And Reid didn't apologize for it after he made the comment, he apologized after he got caught. Liberalism is destroying a once pro-America Democrat party.

The underlying problem with Reid's comments and his refusal to resign is the hypocrisy of the Democratic party. The DNC prides itself on being politically correct in every situation, so when a card-carrying Democrat such as Reid makes comments such as these, by no means should he stay in office. Take the Lot situation and the most recent presidential election - if a Republican dares to open his or her mouth and mention race, the Democratic party immediately politically crucifies him or her by alleging full-out racism. It's time that the Democratic party learns to take what they've been dishing out for years.

You think the Dems are concerned about the African-American community other than keeping them as a voting bloc. Prop. 8 out here in California disproved that fallacy.
"

JakeD:

You think that any political party has anyone’s interest at heart other than keeping them as a voting bloc???

Prop 8?
Really!?!
Let's get some clarity on the issue. Many blacks side with the Dems because the Dems platforms best benefit their interests not their not necessarily their identity. So answer me this, do poor southern whites vote Repub because Repubs benefit their interests or is it a matter of identity?
As African Americans do have some pull as a voting bloc they like any other voting bloc are going to have both political parties attempt to “utilize” them, the difference, with Dems the courtship is more likely to pay off unlike the example of African Americans supporting the Repubs (in the 2004 election W. won Ohio thus the election largely due to high African American turnout, which was prompted via a sinister alliance between Black Church leaders and the White House) did this ill advised support of Repubs gender any support or respect for the African American community amongst Repubs? Funny thing is most African Americans (including Obama) have more conservative leanings on most issues outside of government intervention. Go figure

Blah, Blah, Blah it's all politics all the time. Reid should not resign. His attitudes are common place, but the truth came out. Black Americans better take note. Look to the person, not the political party.

I read through the liberals comments here. They are SOOO funny. They are actually trying to justify the racism that the Democrat party has stood for for almost 2 centuries. It was the Democrat Party that ruled the south. It was the democrat party that almost lost blacks the equal rights legislation of the 60's. Bill Clinton's mentor was one of those who voted against it. It is the democrats through the "Great Society" push that destroyed the black family and poor white families.
It is the democrat party that still has a past grand wizard in their ranks. It is the democrat party that has a vice president who said of Obama, "First CLEAN, articulate African American" http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/biden-obama-first-clean-black-candidate/6ay88tm
It is the democrat party that supports the abortion of MILLIONS of black babies per year. It is the democrat party that is full of rich white people.
These are the facts. Senator Reid as this article illustrates got caught articulating what the democrats really believe "behind closed doors."
As the Bible says, "Be sure, your sin WILL find you out!"

I read through the liberals comments here. They are SOOO funny. They are actually trying to justify the racism that the Democrat party has stood for for almost 2 centuries. It was the Democrat Party that ruled the south. It was the democrat party that almost lost blacks the equal rights legislation of the 60's. Bill Clinton's mentor was one of those who voted against it. It is the democrats through the "Great Society" push that destroyed the black family and poor white families.
It is the democrat party that still has a past grand wizard in their ranks. It is the democrat party that has a vice president who said of Obama, "First CLEAN, articulate African American" http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/biden-obama-first-clean-black-candidate/6ay88tm
It is the democrat party that supports the abortion of MILLIONS of black babies per year. It is the democrat party that is full of rich white people.
These are the facts. Senator Reid as this article illustrates got caught articulating what the democrats really believe "behind closed doors."
As the Bible says, "Be sure, your sin WILL find you out!"

There is NO equivalency between Lott and Reid. Trent Lott was and is a life-long white supremacist, and the leader of the white supremacy wing of the Republican Party. He proved that by his statements about what would have been the result of a Strom Thurmond administration.

Virtually eveny Republican has been calling for Mike Steele to resign or be thrown out bodily...........so it only makes sense that Mike (who refuses to resign and has locked himself in his car) would want to create a diversion.

Unfortunately, Republicans are still calling for Mike's resignation....and they will get it before the Spring thaw.

I'm also tired of this g*dd*am political correctness that has everyone walking on eggshells.

So, here it is and blast me if you wish, because I don't give a rat's as$!

Obama is of the negroid race, he is light-skinned, and he has only a very slight trace of black american dialect.

Yes, there is a black american dialect. Back in the 90s I had a black co-worker lament that her teenaged kids spoke "black", rather than the "king's english."

Her father was an English professor, and it was a constant source of irritation to him that his grandchildren refused to speak as they had been taught - and their only excuse was that it was some kind of "black loyalty" that was supposed to separate the "true" black from what was then perceived by some as blacks trying to be white.

Apparently there was some to-do within the black community over whether blacks that spoke good English were trying to hard to be just like white people...and they shouldn't have to, therefore, blacks adopted their own kind of dialect.

In fact, in the late 90s there were even research papers written on the phenomenon - whether this kind of dialect should be recognized as it's own speech pattern, and therefore allowed and accepted for use, for example, in school term papers, etc. - or whether this was simply poor English.

I personally feel it's just bad English, but the blacks I know all say that it is not - that it is simply the way blacks have decided to adapt their speech so as to feel culturally separate from whites.

And I live in a predominantly poor, black area, so I think I know whereof I speak. I have no reason to not accept what my black friends and neighbors tell me, at face value.

But let's get real, here. Black is not white, nor is it red, yellow, pink, or purple. And black can be brown. It can also be literally pitch black, chocolate brown, tan, or almost white.

People of color come in all shades and hues. In fact, so do whites. There's porcelain white, fair white, light, medium, and dark. Just ask any woman who buys and wears make-up.

WHO CARES????? Who cares if people come in all shades? Who cares if some can speak proper English or if some prefer to speak a street dialect that sets them apart culturally? Does it really matter?

I don't think it does, except to people who just want to keep that race card on top, and usually for their own agenda.

This Republican chairman is just saying this crap because he's in the hot seat right now with his own party. Apparently he's not marching lock-step with Darth Cheney and so this guy is now conducting a "smoke and mirrors" strategy to deflect some of the heat off himself and the Republican party.

Steele threatened that if Reid didn't step down, "I'll retire him in November." No Michael, and putting aside the obvious display of massive egotism, I think it is YOU who will be out of a job before Harry. Also you need to get some help for that Palin Syndrome which manifests itself by preventing you from remembering your own very recent insensitive racial crack Native Americans.

The problem is that while Reid's comments might be poorly-chosen, they could also represent his true feelings. Yes, accept his apology as long as it is truly sincere and not motivated solely by fear of losing his job, his 'votes'. But don't let him pull the wool over your eyes more than once.

the whining about this is unreal, Reid stated opinions on his electability that was pretty accurate in terms of how people look at Mr. Obama. Do Mr. Steele and Mr Kyl really think this is the equivalent of believing America would have been a better place if the Dixiecrat Party which had one platform, segregation of races, had one the election. Granted Mr Lott was referring to the man and not the party, but different stuff. I'm not even sure Reid should have apologized, Obama is no Willie Horton which was the point he was making

For Michael Steele to compare Harry Reid's comments with Trent Lott's suggests that he has very little self-awareness.

Trent Lott's comments amounted to saying that race issues would never have become significant in this country if the "right" leaders had kept blacks out of the mainstream. Civil rights wouldn't have impinged on our society if Strom Thurmond had been able to put African Americans in their place 60 years ago.

That is downright heinous.

Harry Reid made a stupid gaffe, but Lott was advocating the policies of white racial superiority and supremacy.

How can Michael Steele be THAT stupid? I mean, I know he's an airheaded pretty face, but if he believes what he's saying, then he suffers from a level of self-loathing that takes the breath away.

If it weren't for double standards, leftists would have no standards at all. Democrats are less a political party than a criminal enterprise. With a $787 billion democrat slush fund available, you expect a democrat to take a principled stand? Please..

Why validate this bigoted nonsense? Non standard English is not the exclusive province of any race. Colin Powell's not going around "axing" people a question or scratching "hisself." Cut it out.

There is no such thing as a "Negro Dialect." There's just bad English. Affixing race to improper english just shows how incredibly narrow-minded people are. Even the ones who describe it in the dictionary.

As for the blacks in Britian not having a dialect, just give them a generation or two. A passport checker I heard at Heathrow airport had a Jamaican accent. His kids will have some version of an accent themselves.

"here is no such thing as a "Negro Dialect." There's just bad English. Affixing race to improper english just shows how incredibly narrow-minded people are. Even the ones who describe it in the dictionary.

How about Bill Clinton (America's "first" black president) saying "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee"? Hopefully one day, black Americans will admit they picked the wrong team. All they need to do is look at what voting democRAT for decades has done to the black family!

Let me get this: Reid has to apologize for a descriptive and accurate remark about BHO's appearance and speech pattern, but GOP superstar Palin doesn't have to apologize for reportedly (according to journalist Charley James of laprogresssive.com) calling BHO a "S_mbo."

Michael Steel is a Big Fraud. When Glen Beck said that Obama was a " Racist with a deep hatred for White People," Michael Steele was completely silent. Last week when Glen Beck made his remarks about African Americans on the census forms, Michael Steele said nothing about it. Also, when the Tea Baggers carried posters of Obama as a Witch Doctor with a big bone in his nose Michael Steele did not say a word about that either. As a matter of fact, he is trying to court these same nuts. No matter what the Right Wing say about Black People or Obama, Michael Steele stays silent. I am Black and I have no problem with what Harry Reid said. He was correct with what he said. Historically, light Skin Blacks whether they spoke proper English or not, were always more acceptable to White People than Dark Skin Blacks.

Steele and the rest of the Republicans should be careful about what they wish for. Reid is an ineffectual leader and he has been holding the Dems back. A replacement would do more for them than the Repubs.

Steele and the rest of the Republicans should be careful about what they wish for. Reid is an ineffectual leader and he has been holding the Dems back. A replacement would do more for them than the Repubs.

It's just funny that liberals always look the other way when someone like Clinton is a serial sexual predator and harasser and now when Reid is a bigot. Party loyalty uber alles. Sexual harassment and racism only matters when it's the guy from the OTHER party. Talk about double standards . . .

Why validate this bigoted nonsense? Non standard English is not the exclusive province of any race. Colin Powell's not going around "axing" people a question or scratching "hisself." Cut it out.

There is no such thing as a "Negro Dialect." There's just bad English. Affixing race to improper english just shows how incredibly narrow-minded people are. Even the ones who describe it in the dictionary.

People who pretend to be realists are covering their lack of education, an education teaches not just critical thinking but an appreciation for shades of gray and other colors.

Everyone is a projectionist. The shadows on the cave wall are our own. But misanthropy is easy and therefore boring. I feel bad for that poor guy from yesterday who was lamenting the fundamental ignorance of the human kind. Some of us are having a lot of fun. But we are probably not realists.

Lizza writes that "Reid immediately apologized for his remarks," but didn't Reid make those remarks during the campaign more than a year ago? His apology occurred only "immediately" after his comments became a public liability to him, no? That's a bit different.

If every politician who ever served in Congress, at one time or another had used inappropriate language, and had been asked to resign,a majority of those in office would have had to resign. Its human to error. Its only the divine that are free of error, and in his case he wasn't a politician.

If every politician who ever served in Congress, at one or another had used inappropriate language, and had been asked to resign,a majority of those in office would have had to resign. Its human to error. Its only the divine that are free of error, and in his case he wasn't a politician.

Posted by: JakeD | January 10, 2010 4:18 PM"
_________
Yes, I know. I bought the paper this morning. Now O-Nation will know who to blam-, er, thank for such a fine article about an issue of such relevance and importance to the minority community, i.e., Reid's observation that Obama is light skinned and doesn't speak in ebonics.
Sad.

Every political mailing list, message board, and blog I have ever been on had a poster called "Realist," and every one of them has been a far right illiterate angry jerk reciting hate radio talking points.

I bet the rednecks with the same thing on license plates are mental detectives too.

Anyone who can't see the difference between a person saying the country would be better off if a segregationist had prevailed and a person observing that a light-skinned person whose speech patterns reflect the people in power would have an easier time getting elected is a complete moron.

I'll go RNC Chair Steele several better. All members of Congress should be tossed out into the streets, with no possibility of being rehired and barred from future lobbying positions, and replacements elected in. Congress has earned a grade of F for its recent behavior.

Another nail in the Democrat's coffin for the 2010 & 2012 elections - Reid will be the thrid Democratic Senator to "retire" (quit before you get wasted in 2010). No wonder the Dems poll numbers are dropping faster than the temperature in Washington DC.............the Dems are a collection of limp-wristed socialist with no other answers but to spend more, tax more,and increase the Budget deficit to historical levels.

It's amazing how the GOP can find more time and energy to attack and blame everyone, starting with the Democratic Presidential Elect on everything but the moon not shining every night, and yet they damn near brought this country down to it's knees economically and still failed to find Osama bin Ladin.

What is Michael Steele and the GOP doing to help this country to recover from all of the doom and destruction that they brought upon the citizens of this country?

Posted by: lcarter0311 | January 10, 2010 4:01 PM | Report abuse

~~~

Forget I even asked that question.

I just remembered, Michael Steele wrote a book titled, "Right Now: A 12-Step Program For Defeating The Obama Policies".

Yep, Steele's new book is the answer to fixing all that ails America and its citizens.

I wouldn't worry about anyone outside the 17-percenters taking this seriously. Most Americans have intact minds and are not likely to suddenly forget how bigoted the GOP is, nor is anyone likely to see that wretched buffoon Steele as anything but a token reaction to Obama, as the Democrats reclaim the moral high ground.

Republicans have been screaming hate for years and years, and screaming nothing else since Obama became president. Maybe the teabagger and our local stormfront and redstate trolls are willing to bleat the party line but they're not fooling anyone.

Just GOP bullsh_it.
Democracy is not in the vocabulary of Steele, we may presume.
You Steele yankee go on with your thrutiness but dont bother me and the rest of the world with your vomit.
Put you head where it belongs, in your a_ss.

Anyone who can't see the difference between a person saying the country would be better off if a segregationist had prevailed and a person observing that a light-skinned person whose speech patterns reflect the people in power would have an easier time getting elected is a complete moron.

It's amazing how the GOP can find more time and energy to attack and blame everyone, starting with the Democratic Presidential Elect on everything but the moon not shining every night, and yet they damn near brought this country down to it's knees economically and still failed to find Osama bin Ladin.

What is Michael Steele and the GOP doing to help this country to recover from all of the doom and destruction that they brought upon the citizens of this country?

Why are these reporters and journalists,and republicans always waisting our time over frivolous issues. They should vote for health care reform with a strong public option. That is what has an impact over a vast majority of people especially blacks.

Suddenly, the Republicans are concerned about racially sensitive remarks. The apology is not a necessity for the majority of blacks.

The fact is that Obama is light skinned and does not speak with a typical negro accent. He was stating a fact. If you live in a black neighborhood, you know that a majority of blacks always alternate between mainstream accent and typical negro accent depending on whom they are speaking to.

Is it any different than saying, somebody from the south does not speak with a southern accent.

The writers of the book are selling the book to make more money so what do you expect from them. Let Republicans vote for health care reform with a strong public option!

Call this what you will, a tempest in a teapot, a red herring, we are familiar with the tactics of the GOP. This is the party who, in it's last presidential campaign, regularly looked the other way when blatantly racist remarks were made by it's candidates, and racism was actively employed in it's campaign tactics.

The far-left wing Democrap Socialists here have iron ba**'s to try to slime Michael Steele for an alleged insensitive remark, re. American Indians, after they nominated, ran, and elected a proven white and America--hating racist, Barack Obama, to be our countries president.
Barack Obama's entire adult life has been in cahoots with racist white--haters and America--haters.
In Obama's college years his mentors, friends and assocciates where James Combs, leader of the 'Black Liberation Front', and Frank Marshall Davis and Paul Robeson, leaders of CPUSA (Communist Party USA), who hated all white people, as well as our country.
Out of college and in Chicago, his friends and assocciates where the Weather Underground terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn, both members of SDA (Students for a Democratic Society), a Communist America--hating cult led by Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda, who later formed the "Progressives for Obama" PAC group.
Obama also then allied himself with his mentor, friend and assocciate Jerimiah Wright Jr., and joined his racist hate-cult Trinity UFC Church, attending Wright's "services"(?), every Sunday for over 20 years, where Wright's racist sermons included vile racist gibberish directed at white people and hatred for America. Barack Obama not only supported Wright and his racist hate-cult (laughably called "church"), he named him to his "Religious Leadership Committee", and to his "Barack Obama Advisory Committee" after he got elected to the Illnois State Senate.
During all that 20+ year time-span, Obama's friends also included racist white--hater, anti-Semite, and America--hater Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who he helped to raise money for so that Farrakhan and Wright could meet with Mohammad Quadaffi, who was then on our terrorist list, suspected of having trained and helped the terrorists who blew up our civilian airliner over Lockerbee, Scotland.
It takes a lot of chutzbah to try to label Michael Steele as a racist, when your own leader that you helped elect to the highest office in the land, Barack Obama, has a long history of being a white--hater and America--hater.
Have you racist far--left wing liberal Obama worshippers no shame?

Why should he resign. The statement if he indeed made it, in no way belittles President Obama. If President Obama is not offended and he is the subject, what right does anyone else have to squawk. Mr. Obama accepts Mr. Reid's apology. Case closed. Let us grow up and tend to more pressing matters; such as racial bigotry in government agencies that has the propensity to lead to the destruction of this country. Protect the country because we ALL have to live here and have the right to be safe. Harry Reid exercising his to right to freedom of speech is no threat. America is STILL America regardless to whom happens to be her President. Have we not learned that the President of the United States needs Americans to help make America better? Why make a permanent solution to a temporary situation? Do not take short cuts, delay or hide information crucial to our safety because we have a Black President. God bless and protect not only America, but her President and his family as well.

A question for all you "intelligent, intellectual" types who firmly understand the state of being black in America more than myself (who, BTW, is actually black and lives in America...)

What exactly is a "Negro dialect?"

(note: how you answer this question does not or will not make you look vastly superior or more accepting of other cultures in any way, shape, or form. In fact, the question, much like the silly comment, is in fact a "double-edged sword, meaning there is no good answer, but only more insults to be garnered in answering."

That is as funny as when Farlingtonblade elaborated his theory that America and China are a dysfunctional couple, something like this, an addict and an enabler, in pathos; both need each other, both are in big trouble. But pretty soon, someone is going to have to sober up.

Uh, it's not really funny any more, last night it became a matter of psychiatric proportions. Jake *maintains files* on me, "more than for Chris Cillizza."

Just to summarize: someone I don't know and will never meet, a moniker on a blog I post on, is collating and organizing and researching me, putting hours and days and weeks into this effort .. so he has the ability to point out some trivial or invented hypocrisy, like six hours posting me talking about my parrots.

I do not want to be anyone's hobby, nor the target of obsessive love. Infatuation is a mental illness.

Kudos to the Washington Post for publishing this piece exposing the double standard in politics. As stated, when a conservatave has made comments such as these he has stepped down, however whan a liberal does the same thing there are no consequences. I stand behind Michael Steele in his call for Sen. Reid's resignation.

Not only does CC cover this phony manufactured story as though it matter, despite a new family he comes into work both days if a weekend to do it. Some reporter. Not.

And as noted when someone in his beloved partyif bigots and bumpkins says something REALLY offensive about the president, not a mention, not a peep,certainly not a pair of weekend columns. The guy has less credibility that JakeD opining on objective fact snd the age of the earth.

But hey it's flypaper for drudge trills, upping the hit counts, helping him keep a job anyone can see ge isn't fit
for.

Jake, cut me some slack please. After all, I am putting together your 2010 papers for application to the Hall of Fame. I may not have all of your credentials down so I may need some help with this:

Most off-topic posts in a single day.
Most off-topic posts in a single year.
Most consecutive posts on a single thread without any intervening posts by someone else (tied with 37 and aspergirl).
Most negative posts about BHO in a single day.
Most negative posts about BHO in single year.
Most posts between 1am and 5am in a single day.
Most posts between 1am and 5am in a single year.
Most consecutive days with at least one post on this blog (Jake's Place).
Ownership of major newspaper blog (formerly the Fix, now Jake's Place).
Most obsessively bizarre posts about one poster (CF8) in a single day (tied with Zouk).
Most "our gracious host" references in a single day.
Most "our gracious host" references in a single year.

Do Republicans actually know how to read? DO THEY? Does Steele know how to read? Again, republicans have taken a NON-STORY and spun it to there political liking. READ WHAT REED SAID...then read what Steele is saying. I think President Obama should start a new, fully funded program to help the illiterates in America, targeting specifically the republican voter. Remember republican's A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!!

"Steele's status as a high-profile African-American at a time when Republicans are facing serious headwind because of their weakness among non-white voters was a big part of his appeal a year ago. And it is a part of the reason many GOP strategists lament that he is untouchable even though they think the party would be better off to make a change from someone they regard as an unfocused and gaffe-prone leader."

"The problem with Reid's comment was not what it conferred upon Obama, but the slight it dropped on the rest of African Americans."

Yes! And this is why he should resign, IMO.

He was saying Obama is a superior Negro because of his lighter skin color and his ability to use the Southern African American vernacular by choice. In other words, his unique, privileged background was seen by Reid as some kind of exemption, so to say - he's not like the all the rest.

"Do people not realize that Reid was making a statement about white racist attitudes? This was a comment about WHITE people, not African Americans. It was pointing out an unfortunate reaction that some whites have to skin tone and accent. This is not a statement about African Americans.
***
Posted by: B2O2 | January 10, 2010 2:39PM"
___________

Co-sign. To answer your question, yes, people fully understand what Reid was trying to say, inartfully, but they'd rather use this fake controversy as a cynical attempt to slam an ally of our first black president.

It speaks volumes that many of the media folks pushing this dreck have reputations of being hostile to BHO and blacks generally (see, e.g., Drudge).

The day a neo-con tells a person to resign because he or she said something deemed "racist" will be the day neo-cons become eunuchs. Wallow in your own pig slop a little longer, repubicans. At least we'll know where to find you.

Reid needs to go for many, many more additional reasons than just showing his racist card! Let the door slam his butt on the way out the same hard way his sell-out slams all of us in paying for his State's obligations. Good riddance!!!

Reid was wrong but Steele is a walking talking minstrel show so is he truly offended, me thinks not. This is just an opportunity for him to strike out against Dems. He has no concern for the African American community beyond an attempt to manipulate it for support and he doesn't have that. This is false outrage at it’s best.

Michael Steele did nothing for Maryland when he was LtGov, as did his Gov Robert Ehrlich. Both merely used their office to self-promote. Steele really has not proven to be successful in any field. He was working his way out of personal bankrupsy when in Maryland and now he is using his RNC office to promote his "book".

These rightwngers sure do put out a lot of self-promoting books as they sit on their butts doing nothing for the country or its people. Steele is the poster boy for Uncle Tomism. The Repukes do not want him, only his darker skin.

. Our wonderful new President is light skinned and no he doesn't have a Negro dialect, perfectly described by Reid. Reid has done a masterful job working on the health insurance plans and the people of Nevada should be proud of him since their Repuke Congressman is tied up in a nasty adulterous affair with his campaign worker, paying them off so his religious hypocrisy doesn't seem too hypocritical.

The Repukes are grasping at anything, anything, to give them some relevance to us citizens. They've reduced themselves to ignorant, screaming, no-nothing, buffoons, all of them.

President Obama has beautiful skin, speaks like the scholar he is, and is working his hardest to return some sanity to this nation after the Repukes and their idiot leaders, Bush and Cheney used America as their personal dumpsite.

Well we do have bipartisan consensus on one point, both parties are mired in hypocrisy. We won't agree which party is worse, but sometimes bipartisanship agreements are not pretty anyway.

It appears, for example, both parties have decided our financial industry is not only too big to fail, it is too big to regulate. Their profits are private property, their losses are public debt. Both evidently also agree the medical insurance industry can't get too big, they just have different ways of making the money flow. Private profit, public debt.

The GOP thought they could use a black man, e.g., Michael Steele as the president of the RNC to go after the black POTUS, so that it would not look like all of those white Republicans were racists.

But, as it stands, the black man leading the RNC is turning out to be the GOP's worst nightmare, outside of Sarah Palin of course. And, the truth of the matter is, they can't get rid of Steele without looking racist even further.

Do people not realize that Reid was making a statement about white racist attitudes? This was a comment about WHITE people, not African Americans. It was pointing out an unfortunate reaction that some whites have to skin tone and accent. This is not a statement about African Americans.

It's like if your friend Mary was lamenting the mean spiritedness of your bitter and socially inept co-worker, who consistently makes snide snickering remarks about the old car you drive. Mary is the messenger (Harry Reid) lamenting the co-worker (white racists). Mary isn't talking about you, or your car, she's talking about what a shame it is that your co-worker has such a sad life that he is focussed on running down your choice in cars.

It's sad that people are so confused over this. It's like they hear "race" and shift their brains into neutral.

I wonder why he was not as forceful and demanding in trying to get Joe Wilson to step down when Wilson called the president a liar on the Congressional floor of the Capitol with millions of people listening and watching in front of their television sets.

If Michael Steele or the GOP were that concerned about the president being disrespected by his party, then they need to call their own people to the carpet when they viciously attack the president publicly and privately.

If you're going to quote Steele calling on Reid to resign over a racially-insensitive comment, it seems like you should mention that Steele himself made one less than a week ago. Doesn't it? Particularly if you quote Steele alleging a pro-Democrat double-standard.

Oh this is just too funny. The party that plays its various "Willie Horton" cards every chance it gets to scare and foment racist white voters into casting for Republican candidates, is having its ONE TOKEN UNCLE TOM African American express indignation over this comment.
Posted by: B2O2 |
~~~

What you posted is the TRUTH, but for some reason I can't stop laughing at the GOP's hypocrisy and ignorance.

Especially, with Michael Steele trying to lead the pack of hypocrites against President Obama and the Democrats. I don't know why, but Steele looks oddly out of place amongst all of those white Republicans.

Liberals are so far gone in pursuit of their liberal idealist eutopia there is no rational discussion allowed. This is the poster child.

This is the straw that broke the camel's back. There is no point proving points on blogs it has devolved into frothing liberals desperately trying for their free ride not realizing that it will drag the country down.

Good luck all but I think I'm done wasting my breath and will let the clueless idealists think their positions are somehow justified for what is inexcusable. If something like this isn't "racist" to a liberal yet opposing left wing policies are there is no room left for discussion. The brains have completely abandoned the left.

Republicans never have anything substantial to attack so this is what they jump on, it's all they got. I think when you evaluate comments like Reid made you need to look at the INTENT. Obviously it was meant to be a positive comment on Obama's electability in him being able to attract a larger electorate rather than just one group. It was really comment on logistics, the electorate and electability, and not at all meant to be racist, obviously. Why would Reid who was trying to get Obama elected at that point in time back in 2008 when this was said, say something racist about him? don't drink the Koolaid the Republicans are peddling, let's stay focused on what this country needs to do to get out of the huge gaping financial debt hole Bush and the Republicans dug for us all.

Posted by: Hillary08
=====================
You are posting this on every blog under different names.

Looks like the paid democrat bloggers are out in force to protect the suppressed racism of the democratic party.

How could Steele have been so stupid?
Easy. I bet Trent Lott never would have said anything racist about Native Americans (see his relationship with Abramoff, Jack, follow the money). Native American politics/money have not been a part of Michael Steele's "career" in politics. So for him, Indians don't exist as people whose feelings matter

However distasteful and politically incorrect, Reid's statement was accurate, although I think less so about skin color than dialect. It's the kind of thing political scientists have discussed for years. Obama's election is a major step toward moving beyond the prejudices that Reid characterized. But he was right that we weren't, and probably aren't, there yet. Steele's concept of what constitutes reason for resignation is simply naive and foolish.

Reid said those things in 2008 during the election cycle. Don't say he apologized immediately, he got caught. If this had not come out in the book, he would have never said anything to BO or the black leaders. You people at WP are so liberal and forgiving of your kind but hold other standards for the conservative rep.

Susan Power, 85, the last living founding member of Chicago's American Indian Center, said she was offended by Steele's comment.

"I'm really disgusted with him," said Power, a longtime activist and member of the Dakota nation. "He's an intelligent man and I know he's probably kicking himself all over his office for saying it, but he should know better. It would hurt if he were white, but it hurts more because he's black. How can you be so stupid?"

She said that "injun" is one of two words -- the other is "squaw" -- that should never be used because they are throwbacks to a time when Native Americans were defined almost exclusively by negative stereotypes.

"Are we so unimportant that he couldn't have caught himself?" she said. "I would never use the N-word. I know not to. This man must know nothing about native people, that's what's so hard about this. Native Americans know everything about everybody else, but there's so little interest in knowing who we are."

Republicans never have anything substantial to attack so this is what they jump on, it's all they got. I think when you evaluate comments like Reid made you need to look at the INTENT. Obviously it was meant to be a positive comment on Obama's electability in him being able to attract a larger electorate rather than just one group. It was really comment on logistics, the electorate and electability, and not at all meant to be racist, obviously. Why would Reid who was trying to get Obama elected at that point in time back in 2008 when this was said, say something racist about him? don't drink the Koolaid the Republicans are peddling, let's stay focused on what this country needs to do to get out of the huge gaping financial debt hole Bush and the Republicans dug for us all.

Chris, in your discussion of race and insensitivity with Mr. Steele, perhaps you could (or will) ask him about his 'Honest Injun' quote of the past week? Seems like he may not be the best to wring his hands over outmoded stereotyped language!

The one thing one can bet on as a sure bet is that the same racist black politicians and commenters on blogs like Fix's, that are excusing and pooh--poohing Harry Reid and Joe Biden's racist remarks re. Obama, would be hitting the ceiling and crying crocodile tears of outrage about how racism and black--hatred is alive and well within the party, if the party Reid and Biden belonged to were the Republican Party.
The sad fact about all of this is that since both Reid and Biden are Democrap Socialists and Obama worshippers, it's apparantly reason enough for the black and far-left liberal racists like broadwayjoe et al to circle the wagons to protect them from political fallout. Sorta proves that black leaders and commenters like broadwayjoe here really don't care about any racism going on in the political arena unless it's done by Republicans, so that they can use the race-card like a political club to beat them up with. What it also proves is that it's they, the Obama worshippers and the Democrap Socialist Party who are the real racists here.

Oh this is just too funny. The party that plays its various "Willie Horton" cards every chance it gets to scare and foment racist white voters into casting for Republican candidates, is having its ONE TOKEN UNCLE TOM African American express indignation over this comment.

And Steele, for his part, fighting to keep his position in a party of Klan Nostalgics, plays the one note that at this point gives him currency there - the ability to act all indignant and find another avenue of attack against the progressive cause of helping non-Wall Street America.

I guess the GOP wasn't content to throw one ridiculous, illogical and hypocritical charge against Obama after another in trying to exploit the Christmas bomber incident, so they've decided to entertain America with yet another absurd line of attack.

This whole thing is such a non-issue. There are many other things to be sensitive about. Reid's comments have been voiced over and over by whites who have come into contact with "blacks" who do not sound black. Let's face it, Obama is mulatto, whether black or brown or even white skinned. Steele is obviously a black in search of a cause.

My major concern is that many whites are using race in the guise of patriotic concern as a means of trying to torpedo this president.

The President correctly and quickly accepted Reid's apology, because he even knew that no apology was necessary. How thin-skinned does one think that Obama is? To have grown up as a person of mixed race during his day was akin to social suicide. I assure you that he has suffered much, much worse verbal abuse.

Mr. Steele will be just fine.What he needs is confidence building support.Focus on the Massachusetta special election.If Republicans win that one.I believe in November a dommino effect will begin and there is no way to tell how far it will go.

Steele is right on this. And Democrats are playing a huge double standard, especially the "black leaders" crowd who are rallying behind Reid. The "It's O.K. that he said something bad because he is working to pass health care" argument is absolutely absurd, and it only serves to show how partisan those black leaders are. They only sharpen their knives when someone on the Republican side makes a racist comment, and then seek to brush comments aside when they come from Democrats. These black leaders don't really care about race at all; they simply use race as a bludgeon to score political points. Against Reid, they have no political points to score and thus, in their minds, the comment does not count as racist.

The democratic party is made up of a bunch of hypocrites - they screamed for Trent Lott's resignation in 2002 for his comments (Obama led the call for his resignation). Now they fall over themselves to accept Reid's apology for one reason......he is a democrat.

Once again the Democrats prove themselves to be a weak and ineffctive political party and incapable of leading the nation.

Very few, if any of those guys in Washington on any political office in America wanted Barack Obama to become President of the United States of America before they became president.

If you people try to say that these guys wanted a "Negro" as president you ARE LYING. The republicans in political office have vowed to NEVER support anything Obama supports.

The current dixiecrats have joined with the republicans and will not support Obama and many of the other democrats are refusing to seek re-election.

Thank God the common everyday American has realized that more than one gender or "ethnic" group can lead.

Harry Reid has been very ineffective. His term as Majority leader will be short. The American voter is better at picking leaders. Politicians aren't very good at determining who should lead and it shows.

I wholeheartedly agree with Steele on this. With most black democratic elected officials rushing out to defend his remarks, it shows how hypocritical all of them are in the fact they were some of the first to rush and call their own previous democratic President and first lady racists in order to get Obama the nomination. The hypocrisy of Clyburn is unbelievable. I wonder how he would have reacted if John McCain had said that Obama having lighter skin and no negro dialect unless he wanted to feign one was why the democrats were pushing this African American for President would have gone over on the campaign trail? I wonder if that means Reid thinks Clyburn wouldn't fair so well since he is not of the lighter skinned African American type so shouldn't bother of ever thinking to run for higher office? Funny how hearing these words out of a democratic mouth is supposed to be ignored or accepted quickly to make it all disappear, but if these same words came from a republican, the media and democrats would never let go until a republican head rolled and the speaker's seat in Congress was vacated. I am waiting to hear the first African American democratic official to condemn these words - I better not hold my breath because all morning I haven't heard one on TV say anything but - no, Reid only needs an apology and everything is fine.

Reid comments were stupid (who says Negro in 2008) but not racist. We live in the U.S. and what Reid said is true. Light skinned black males are perceived as less threatening (remember Time darkened O.J. Simpson) and people do think no matter how educated a black person is the fact that they're "articulate" is amazing. Nothing is ever said about white Southerner and Applachian but somehow sounding "black" is inarticulate.

This is Bizarro world! Mike, what are you thinking? This is close to clinically observable self hate.
_______

Wasn't it reported by the MSM just yesterday the GOP wanted Mike Steele out as RNC head because he was couldn't be controlled by the staff they had put around him (i.e., he was too uppity) and because he was making some po'chop money on the side making speeches and writing books?

Double standard? Why no concern here about:

Mike Steele underscoring--just three days ago-- earlier point he'd made by saying, "Honest injun on that," a slur against Native Americans.

My vote for the most important piece published this weekend is the Frank Rich column. Over a year ago I was ranting here about what a mistake it was to hire Geithner, Orzag and especially Larry Summers. I suppose continuing on with Bernanke then was required by circumstances, but it isn't anymore. Those birds will come home to roost on the Democrats. Many people across the political spectrum are as enraged as any Tea Party kook at the inability of the Democrats to control the financial industry.

Meanwhile, Steele is a joke, a ridiculous buffoon. You really have to wonder what the RNC cronies were thinking when they elected to hire him. Karl Rove knew it was a mistake at the time and said so. Now it will take a 2/3 vote of the committee to get rid of him. Ouch.

If you're going to quote Steele calling on Reid to resign over a racially-insensitive comment, it seems like you should mention that Steele himself made one less than a week ago. Doesn't it? Particularly if you quote Steele alleging a pro-Democrat double-standard.